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\f0\b\fs24 \cf2 National Farmers' Union Warns of Grass Fires, as British Heat Continues\
\b0 by Robin McKie\
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\cf2 July 20, 2013 \'96 Crops and heathland across Britain now face the threat of devastating fires, as Britain continues to swelter in record-breaking heat. Farmers have urged travelers to take considerable care not to trigger blazes through carelessness over the next few days.\
The \cf3 Met Office\cf2 said yesterday its forecast indicated the hot, sunny \cf3 weather\cf2 would continue for much of next week, further drying out woodlands and fields, and maintaining conditions that have already triggered mountain blazes in the Welsh valleys and \cf3 forest fires in Fife\cf2 , Scotland. In London, firefighters have also tackled dozens of grass fires since Wednesday, including one at Mitcham Common on Thursday, when flames burned through grass and gorse in an area the size of 4 football pitches.\
As a result, holidaymakers and day-trippers have been warned by the \cf3 National Farmers Union\cf2 to avoid using barbecues near fields, to take care not to leave glass bottles that could focus the sun's rays and trigger blazes, and to avoid flicking cigarette butts from car windows. The danger of uncontrolled fire was becoming particularly high as harvest time approaches, it added.\
The union also urged that people halt the practice of setting off Chinese lanterns \'96 paper and wire hot air balloons fueled by a naked flame \'96 at parties and festivals. These can travel for dozens of miles from their release point and have already been linked to fires and deaths of farm animals.\
"We have been warning for a long time about the dangers of Chinese lanterns," said Guy Gagen of the NFU. "But as the heat wave continues and fields get drier and drier, the danger will only increase." For their part, farmers have been urged to reduce the risk of combine harvesters\'a0catching fire,\'a0by regularly cleaning the\'a0machinery to remove chaff and dust.\
The dangers facing farms and heathland were also outlined by the Met Office, which said yesterday there was now an "elevated risk" of fires in the countryside, following 6 consecutive days of 30\'b0C-plus temperatures and a dramatic reduction\'a0in the average monthly rainfall.\
The heat wave is also believed to have caused up to 760 deaths already. The British Red Cross has launched 2 call centers in Norwich and Ipswich, to check on the welfare of hundreds of vulnerable people in the region. In addition, police and fire chiefs have repeated warnings about swimming in open water, after a several deaths in recent weeks. 4 people died in separate incidents on Tuesday in lakes, rivers and the sea in Norfolk, the Shropshire-north Wales\'a0border, and Cornwall.\
Elsewhere, a 4-week-old baby was among 10 children admitted to one hospital with sunburn since the hot weather began. 6 of the 10 patients needed specialist treatment,\'a0after being referred to the Queen Victoria hospital in East Grinstead, West Sussex, because of the\'a0severity of their burns. Nora Nugent, a consultant plastic surgeon at the hospital, urged parents to spend a few minutes applying sunscreen to children before they go out in the sun. "It could be the difference between a summer of fun and a summer spoilt by sunburn. "However, the Environment Agency dismissed the prospects of a hosepipe ban in the near future. "Last year's exceptionally wet summer and autumn has left us in a fairly good water resources position, with most rivers, reservoirs and underground water stores around normal for the time of year," said Trevor Bishop, the agency's head of water resources.\
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\cf0 www.guardian.co.uk/uk-news/2013/jul/20/farmers-grass-fires-warning-weather}